1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to child resistant containers and lids and more specifically, child resistant containers having lids which are flip cap type lids. The present invention involves such container and lid systems which require compound movement for opening, e.g., simultaneous squeeze and twist, or squeeze, twist clockwise and twist counterclockwise or the like. These may include indicator displays that count the number of openings which occur.
2. Prior Art Statement
Prior art patents describe many hundreds of types of child resistant caps and these have developed over the past twenty years or so. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,451,576, issued in 1969 to Norman Lewis describes a locking closure with a false release for toxic containers to prevent children from opening these. Other types of systems have evolved, including the tamper evident and combination tamper evident, child resistant closures. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,595,123 and 4,669,620 describe closures which require the removal of a flange or other portion in order to be opened and this acts as an indication of whether or not the container has been tampered with.
More significant prior art has developed which requires downward pressure coupled with some other action in order to open a cap and this complex motion requirement typically renders a closure substantially child proof or child resistant. U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,676 to Gach and Leonard, describes a child proof screw cap which has a deformable top which requires substantial pressing in order to effect opening. The deformation is designed so that a one way drive ratchet can only be operated when the cap is deformed and this outer shell deformation requires strength which is beyond the strength of a small child. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,484 issued to John Kinsley, requires downward force coupled with interlocking mechanisms in order to open a closure. U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,135 also describes a container which requires downward force as well as rotation in order to effect the opening of the closure.
While the above patents describe systems which require downward pressure, a series of patents have been issued which describe closures characterized in general as safety closures or child resistant closures which require some squeezing or inward side pressure on the cap or closure in order to effect opening. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 3,926,328 issued to David Cistone shows a ratcheted outer cap which can only be engaged with an inner cap by squeezing of the outer cap and turning. U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,888 to John J. Curry describes a dispensing cap with an integral spring hinge for a snap lid. The dispensing cap includes a child resistance mechanism which requires a certain amount of inward pressure to be applied to a portion of the cap in order to expose an under portion of the cap to enable completion of the opening thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,057 to William Fisher also describes a tamper resistant container which requires side squeezing in order to effect cap removal. In this case, the side of the container rather than the side of the cap requires compression. U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,455 to Woodrow S. Wilson describes a snap lid type of closure for child resistant containers which involves a deformable panel which must be pressed in at a specific location so as to force the panel inwardly to a slot formed through an engaged portion of the shoulder of the cap and, as a result, a slight separation occurs between the peripheral edge of the lid member and the shoulder so that the user, with the other hand while continuing to compress the panel, may engage the edge of the lid to open it. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,768 has a child resistant dispensing closure involving a snap lid wherein actuated slots in the lid create adequate deflection of the lid so that detents may be pushed inwardly to unlock and release the snap lid for subsequent opening. Notwithstanding the formidable prior art, it should be noted that none of the prior art teaches or suggests the present invention closure which involves a child resistant container and lid having a unique combination of elements which, together, create a system requiring the user to simultaneously squeeze and rotate a ring around the snap lid in order to effect opening. In this invention, the action not only releases an otherwise unopenable snap cap, but acts to lift up the snap cap without the user having to utilize the other hand to engage and pull the cap while squeezing, as is found in many of the prior art systems.